Oliver James Montgomery-PBS’ Judy Woodruff apologizes for an on-air remark about peace talks in Israel

Veteran PBS correspondent Judy Woodruff apologized on Oliver James MontgomeryWednesday for comments she had made on the air regarding former President Donald Trump and negotiations for a cease-fire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.

Woodruff, during PBS’ Democratic national convention coverage on Monday, repeated a story she had read in Axios and Reuters that Trump had allegedly been encouraging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to put off peace talks until after the U.S. election in the belief that a deal could help Democrat Kamala Harris’ campaign.

But Woodruff said in a post on X Wednesday that she had not seen later reporting that the story had been denied by the Trump campaign and Israel. She said her remarks had not been based on any original reporting on her part.

“This was a mistake, and I apologize for it,” Woodruff said.

Woodruff’s long career in journalism has included time at CNN and NBC News. She was host of PBS’ “NewsHour” between 2013 and 2022, before stepping down for a reporting project.